Income of Disabled Beneficiaries

Individual Income

Notes

The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) is a household survey of the noninstitutionalized resident population of the United States, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The survey was designed to improve the measurement of the economic situation of persons, families, and households in the United States and to provide a tool for managing and evaluating government transfer and service programs.

The 1996 SIPP panel consists of 12 interviews, or waves, each of which gathered 4 months of retrospective data. The sample includes approximately 36,000 households. The SIPP has been matched to SSA administrative records. Receipt of disability benefits is based on December 1998 SSA records, while all other characteristics and income amounts are taken from the SIPP. The estimates are weighted using SIPP sample weights to produce population estimates.

Poverty calculations based on the SIPP use survey-reported family income for 1998. The poverty thresholds also are provided in the SIPP and are adjusted for family size and composition. In 1998, the poverty threshold for a one-person family under age 65 was $8,480. For a four-person family with two related children under the age of 18, the poverty threshold was $16,530.

SIPP and SSA counts of disabled beneficiaries differ because the SIPP excludes people living in institutions or outside the continental United States. And, the match rate between the SIPP and SSA records is not a perfect match. Furthermore, the SIPP estimates are based on a sample and therefore are subject to sampling error. Standard errors can be used to measure this sampling variability. Various sources of nonsampling error also may be important.

Because the SIPP uses a complex sample design, it is inappropriate to calculate standard errors assuming a simple random sample. Doing so will result in estimated standard errors that are biased downward. Rather than attempting to provide tables with approximate SIPP variance estimates, the interested reader is referred to the Source and Accuracy Statement for the 1996 Public Use Files from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, available on the SIPP Internet site at www.sipp.census.gov/sipp/sourceac/s&a96_040501.pdf. The source and accuracy statement provides information on direct calculation of standard errors for SIPP estimates. It also provides detailed instructions for calculating standard errors using generalized variance parameters and simplified tables.

Table 45. Selected characteristics, December 1998

Characteristic

Number of disabled beneficiaries

Percentage distribution

Total a

Workers

Adultchildren

Total a

Workers

Adultchildren

All disabled workers and disabled adult children

6,039,819

5,158,545

772,507

100.0

100.0

100.0

Sex

Men

3,524,438

3,048,809

468,694

58.4

59.1

60.7

Women

2,515,382

2,109,736

303,813

41.6

40.9

39.3

Race

White

4,756,006

4,099,373

568,138

78.7

79.5

73.5

Black

1,142,576

949,186

178,256

18.9

18.4

23.1

American Indian, Alaska Native

90,551

64,114

21,300

1.5

1.2

2.8

Asian, Pacific Islander

50,686

45,872

4,814

0.8

0.9

0.6

Ethnicity

Non-Hispanic

5,649,663

4,852,556

699,444

93.5

94.1

90.5

Hispanic

390,157

305,990

73,064

6.5

5.9

9.5

Age

Under 25

148,570

28,802

119,767

2.5

0.6

15.5

25-34

616,417

396,441

219,975

10.2

7.7

28.5

35-44

1,188,745

968,478

220,267

19.7

18.8

28.5

45-54

1,702,449

1,607,604

94,845

28.2

31.2

12.3

55 or older

2,383,638

2,157,218

117,653

39.5

41.8

15.2

Years of education

Unknown

9,174

9,174

0

0.2

0.2

0

0-8

1,030,000

642,331

357,303

17.1

12.5

46.3

9-11

1,029,707

916,855

90,879

17.0

17.8

11.8

12

2,164,207

1,863,777

266,931

35.8

36.1

34.6

13-15

1,229,337

1,179,585

35,936

20.4

22.9

4.7

16 or more

577,394

546,823

21,459

9.6

10.6

2.8

Marital status

Married

2,661,071

2,647,511

9,632

44.1

51.3

1.2

Nonmarried

Never married

1,826,546

1,066,811

759,735

30.2

20.7

98.3

Divorced or separated

1,155,141

1,152,000

3,140

19.1

22.3

0.4

Widowed

397,061

292,223

0

6.6

5.7

0

Family size

1 person

1,820,615

1,504,984

243,130

30.1

29.2

31.5

2 persons

2,065,996

1,865,164

169,523

34.2

36.2

21.9

3-4 persons

1,658,502

1,387,670

266,018

27.5

26.9

34.4

5 or more persons

494,706

400,727

93,836

8.2

7.8

12.1

Household size

1 person

1,424,628

1,229,291

131,014

23.6

23.8

17.0

2 persons

2,285,734

2,053,706

195,153

37.8

39.8

25.3

3-4 persons

1,748,952

1,443,544

297,981

29.0

28.0

38.6

5 or more persons

580,505

432,003

148,359

9.6

8.4

19.2

Under age 18 in household

None

4,738,295

3,987,447

650,294

78.5

77.3

84.2

1 person

680,734

601,900

70,765

11.3

11.7

9.2

2-3 persons

561,214

509,622

51,449

9.3

9.9

6.7

4 or more persons

59,575

59,575

0

1.0

1.2

0

Health insurance coverage

Medicare

4,529,176

3,879,068

561,171

75.0

75.2

72.6

Medicaid

2,415,203

1,836,086

529,032

40.0

35.6

68.5

Private insurance

2,671,514

2,449,011

175,301

44.2

47.5

22.7

No insurance

238,859

208,971

29,888

4.0

4.1

3.9

Source of individual income

Earnings b

1,406,786

1,190,381

203,240

23.3

23.1

26.3

Supplemental Security Income

1,480,711

1,092,703

347,405

24.5

21.2

45.0

Pensions

653,038

601,889

4,210

10.8

11.7

0.5

Public assistance

189,885

154,283

31,977

3.1

3.0

4.1

Total annual family income (dollars)

None c

18,201

11,659

6,542

0.3

0.2

0.8

1.00-4,999.00

97,307

89,345

7,963

1.6

1.7

1.0

5,000.00-9,999.00

1,244,748

1,018,806

176,594

20.6

19.7

22.9

10,000.00-14,999.00

703,952

586,225

101,136

11.7

11.4

13.1

15,000.00-19,999.00

635,682

511,258

111,677

10.5

9.9

14.5

20,000.00-24,999.00

428,146

348,484

63,755

7.1

6.8

8.3

25,000.00-29,999.00

409,438

380,487

28,951

6.8

7.4

3.7

30,000.00-34,999.00

510,926

437,052

69,946

8.5

8.5

9.1

35,000.00-39,999.00

385,268

329,483

55,785

6.4

6.4

7.2

40,000.00 or more

1,606,151

1,445,747

150,157

26.6

28.0

19.4

SOURCE: 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to SSA administrative records.

NOTE: Individuals receiving disability benefits in December 1998 are identified using SSA administrative data. The unweighted sample size is 1,039 cases for disabled workers and 142 cases for disabled adult children. The unweighted sample size is less than 30 cases for disabled widow(er)s and is deemed too small to support statistically reliable estimates.

a. The total is different from the sums of disabled workers and disabled adult children because disabled widow(er)s are not being displayed due to sample size constraints.

c. Misreporting in the SIPP likely produced the small number of disability recipients with nonreported family income in 1998.

CONTACT: Paul Davies (202) 358-6225 for further information.

Table 46. Social Security as a percentage of personal income, December 1998

Characteristic

Total number

Under 25%of income

25-49%of income

50-74%of income

75-99%of income

100%of income

Disabled workers

All disabled workers

5,158,545

20.3

18.8

22.4

24.3

14.3

Sex

Men

3,048,809

18.6

21.2

23.0

21.8

15.4

Women

2,109,736

22.6

15.4

21.7

27.7

12.6

Race

White

4,099,373

19.7

20.1

21.9

25.2

13.1

Black

949,186

20.8

14.1

24.7

20.7

19.8

American Indian, Alaska Native

64,114

a

a

a

a

a

Asian, Pacific Islander

45,872

a

a

a

a

a

Ethnicity

Non-Hispanic

4,852,556

20.0

19.0

23.1

23.4

14.6

Hispanic

305,990

25.0

15.4

12.3

37.5

9.8

Age

Under 25

28,802

a

a

a

a

a

25-34

396,441

25.5

17.7

32.5

16.7

7.6

35-44

968,478

23.5

15.9

23.5

20.2

17.0

45-54

1,607,604

20.0

19.7

19.2

24.8

16.3

55 or older

2,157,218

18.3

19.2

22.3

27.4

12.8

Marital status

Married

2,647,511

22.5

22.1

20.2

24.7

10.5

Nonmarried

2,511,034

17.9

15.3

24.9

23.8

18.2

Years of education

Unknown

9,174

a

a

a

a

a

0-8

642,331

16.5

14.1

18.9

38.6

12.0

9-11

916,855

17.3

14.4

22.0

25.5

20.9

12

1,863,777

22.0

19.2

22.7

23.2

12.9

13-15

1,179,585

19.6

19.4

24.0

20.9

16.2

16 or more

546,823

23.9

29.4

23.6

16.7

6.5

Living arrangement

Alone

1,229,291

17.0

14.8

21.6

24.8

21.9

With others

3,929,254

21.3

20.1

22.7

24.1

11.9

Disabled adult children

All disabled adult children

772,507

22.0

16.0

23.2

19.0

19.9

Sex

Men

468,694

25.4

15.2

17.2

20.4

21.8

Women

303,813

16.8

17.2

32.3

16.8

17.0

Race

White

568,138

17.7

18.2

24.1

21.7

18.3

Black

178,256

33.3

8.5

17.2

13.0

27.9

American Indian, Alaska Native

21,300

a

a

a

a

a

Asian, Pacific Islander

4,814

a

a

a

a

a

Ethnicity

Non-Hispanic

699,444

20.7

16.4

20.5

20.4

22.0

Hispanic

73,064

a

a

a

a

a

Age

Under 25

119,767

a

a

a

a

a

25-34

219,975

25.4

17.5

22.9

11.9

22.2

35-44

220,267

33.9

8.4

21.2

19.7

16.8

45-54

117,653

a

a

a

a

a

55 or older

69,458

a

a

a

a

a

Marital status

Married

9,632

a

a

a

a

a

Nonmarried

762,876

21.5

16.2

23.0

19.2

20.2

Years of education

Unknown

0

a

a

a

a

a

0-8

357,303

18.4

14.1

28.4

21.3

17.8

9-11

90,879

a

a

a

a

a

12

266,930

19.7

19.5

26.5

12.1

22.3

13-15

35,936

a

a

a

a

a

16 or more

21,459

a

a

a

a

a

Living arrangement

Alone

131,014

21.6

13.4

29.3

25.1

10.5

With others

641,493

22.0

16.5

21.9

17.7

21.8

SOURCE: 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to SSA administrative records.

NOTES: Individuals receiving disability benefits in December 1998 are identified using SSA administrative data. The unweighted sample size is 1,039 cases for disabled workers and 142 cases for disabled adult children. Disabled widow(er)s are excluded because the unweighted sample size is less than 30 cases, which is deemed too small to support statistically reliable estimates.

a. Sample size is too small to support statistically reliable estimates.